LASIK thursday, wish me luck! UPDATE 1wk

[Ingmar]

Is this the same as the "All Laser LASIK" that I keep hearing advertised on the radio?

[Nerf]

Is this the same as the "All Laser LASIK" that I keep hearing advertised on the radio?

Yes, and no.
If it's a wavefront setup, it will be 'all laser', however not all 'all laser' setups are necessarily wavefront.
As someone else said, wavefront is on-the-fly cornea mapping etc software, but they were cutting the flap with the laser before they had wavefront.
Non all-laser lasik would be where they cut the flap with a blade and then do the correction with the laser.

[Morat20]

I think before that they actually just abraded the top of the cornea off, rather than slicing open a flap. I think a huge number of the LASIK complications come from that flap (or the abrasion) not healing properly. Mostly particles getting under it.

So they lase the flap, and then the bit of the machine that's stuck to it just lifts. Everything's all surrounded by super-clean machine, and the cut is so fine that it starts sealing instantly when they put it back. Lower chance of particles getting in there, lower chance of misalignment when they put it back, lower chance of scarring....

Still, you know, it's black magic. They shoot you in the eye with lasers and you see better. That doesn't sound exactly right, does it? That's right up there with "To heal your burns, we will scald the skin!".

[Sheepherder]

"To cure your cancer: ionizing radiation and mustard gas."

[Cyrrex]

In theory, I want Lasik.  In practice, I struggle through reading this thread without getting the willies.  THEY SLICE INTO YOUR GODDAMN EYEBALL.  It's as if nobody understands that part.

[lamaros]

Don't do it. It's not good for your eyes long term.

[murdoc]

I got lasik done in 2002 and I have never regretted it. I'm using reading glasses and need them for driving at night, but it was life changing and I'd never go back.

[Sky]

I've reversed my position on this one. I'm glad I didn't get it done, because doing the detail work painting miniatures is greatly aided by my microscopic close vision.

[Lantyssa]

In theory, I want Lasik.  In practice, I struggle through reading this thread without getting the willies.  THEY SLICE INTO YOUR GODDAMN EYEBALL.  It's as if nobody understands that part.

I do.  It's the main thing that keeps me from researching it further.

[Merusk]

I've reversed my position on this one. I'm glad I didn't get it done, because doing the detail work painting miniatures is greatly aided by my microscopic close vision.

Same.  I realized the tech was only 10 years old at the point I was considering it ('98-2000) and frankly we're all too happy to take a consumer mindset on radical medical procedures.  Nothing bad's ever happened long-term with new body-mod techs like implants and plastic surgery, right?  I decided I'd give it 20 years from '89 and then look in to it   

So I held off when it was first getting big and everyone I knew was having it done. Now they're all turning out to need reading glasses before 40 and complain about starry night-vision.  Glad I skipped.

[Signe]

I've reversed my position on this one. I'm glad I didn't get it done, because doing the detail work painting miniatures is greatly aided by my microscopic close vision.

That is really a excellent point!  I know artists who do very intricate detailed work and their near vision is so good they can even see a flaw in a diamond without aid.  LASIK would change everything for them.  I have a friend who had eye surgery not LASIK) and while they were in there, they replaced his lenses to improve his vision.  He misses his old fucked upped eyes badly.

[Morat20]

So I held off when it was first getting big and everyone I knew was having it done. Now they're all turning out to need reading glasses before 40 and complain about starry night-vision.  Glad I skipped.

Gotta sort them out into types of surgery. The late 80s, early 90s stuff wasn't LASIK -- it was RDK (I think that's what it was called). They sliced and diced your eyeballs, and let them heal. Doing so changed the shape of the cornea.

Early LASIK was about a zillion times better, but prone to night blindness and halos. But the late 90s, early 00s the side-effects had radically dropped in both % and severity.

The stuff now? It's moved into the realm of not only mapping the changes exactly to every individual bit of your eye, but to do so to a precision that was unimaginable 10 years ago.

Hell, my father in law just had his eyes done two years ago. (he's 60). He'd been trying to get it done in his bad eye since 1990 (he took a shard of glass in the eye when he was in his 20s, left a visible scar on his eye -- right through the middle. Seeing a scar line running through the iris is freaky). Nobody would do it because of the big honkin scar, and he was legally blind in that eye. Now? 20/30 in that eye. (He did, of course, do one eye at a time. He didn't figure he had a lot to lose on the bad eye).

I'm pretty sure the guy who did it wrote a paper on it. (The aforementioned Mann Eye Clinic? The guy that did the surgery was the semi-retired original "Mann" who came in to consult on it).

I don't think switching to reading glasses iin your late 30s and early 40s is LASIK -- or so swears all three eye doctors I've asked about it, none of whom did LASIK themselves. (They were happy to talk about haloing and night vision problems, and two of the three had had LASIK. The last had perfect vision already, the evil bint). Just eyes getting old.

[Jimbo]

Eye site is still great. Best thing I ever did. Glasses suck.

No dry eyes, no problem with vision. Vision is holding, I'm at the age where my Dad got his reading glasses, but that is something I would have happened even if I didn't get lasik.

[Samwise]

I'm not going to the cheap "shoots you in the eyes with lasers" place. :) Luckily, we have the Mann Eye Clinic down here, and they're supposedly top-notch.

"We shoot you in the eyes with lasers and get in fights"?

[Stewie]

Its good to hear that those who have had it done have no regrets. I am going in on the 25th.

Oh and the custom wavefront is not necessarily an all laser procedure. It just refers to how they map and apply the laser to your eye. 
With custom wavefront you can still have the flap physically cut instead of being done with a laser. I have heard/read conflicting reports on which is best/safest. With the blade, there may be a very slightly higher chance at flap complications, but from what i understand the eye heals pretty well. As for the all laser, there is a higher chance at light sensitivity after the fact and this may not go away.  Although that being said people get wierded out by having something physically slice into your eye so they often opt for the laser cutting of the flap.

Some people have commented on the fact that its fairly cheap. I think it is becoming such a common, quick, safe procedure and this coupled with the fact that once they have the equipment and everything else in place there is probably not *that much* overhead. I'm guessing these clinics are making money hand over fist.

here is the bio of the guy doing my surgery http://www.lasikmd.com/surrey/our-surgeons/laser-eye-surgeons/dr-paul-denton

[Lantyssa]

You're having your eye cut on by a cyborg?

[MrHat]

My only recommendation is to never ever have elective surgery on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon.